He laughs, getting up and moving over to the porch and sitting down to watch his brother. Malik chuckles as Casen begins to struggle. “Just remember you gotta sleep sometime, old man,”‘ Casen tells Malik.
“Old man?” Malik asks before grasping both hands in one of his and ripping Casen’s pants up his ass.
“You’re young, you’re so young,” Casen squeals.
Malik lets him go, and Casen growls at him before trying to squirm out from under him. “That’s what I thought,” Malik laughs before looking up at me. “What do you want to do with him?”
“Cut off the spitting wand!” Vince screams out from the porch steps.
“Shut up, traitor, don’t give him ideas.”
“That does sound like a good idea, remove his pants,” I tell Malik, and Casen screams like a girl, and Clay comes over laughing, helping Malik pin him down.
“Anything but that, I will give you a toe, the little finger, anything but that!” He screams.
“You aren’t really going to cut it off,” Vince mind-links, and I look over at him.
“No, of course not, but I am tying him to the tree in his underwear,” Casen squirms and squeals as Clay and Malik strip him down.
“I’m going to kill you, Vince, you just wait, I am… I am…. I am going to fart in your pillowcase!” Casen screams at Vince, who is laughing as we haul him over to the willow tree and tie him to it.
“Wow, so scary. You realize Vince will probably go do that to yours while you’re tied to this tree?” Malik tells him.
“He wouldn’t dare!” Casen says, appalled.
“Well, when you get pink eye, don’t blame me,” Malik tells him before slapping his cheek softly. I laugh, turning to walk back to the packhouse.
“Wait, how long are you keeping me out here?” He calls out as we leave.
“Just overnight,” I shrug.
“What?” he shrieks, and I laugh. “But it will get dark and cold. What about spiders?”
“Use your spitting wand to fend them off,” I retort.
“Yeah, give it the cooties,” Malik tells him as we part ways. I head home. I figure I will let him sweat for a few hours first before I untie him.
Andrei
A month later
“Jonah!” Sage calls out for the fourth time before turning to me. Sage’s stomach is now round and huge as she looks up the stairs where Jonah had rushed off to his room, slamming the door behind him.
“I don’t understand why he is acting out like this,” Sage mutters, shaking her head.
Jonah’s behavior has been out of character for him recently. His usually bubbly personality lessened. More so today, he even played up at the doctor’s visit and stormed out of the ultrasound room, making me chase after him.
“Just go, I can handle him,” Sage says, waving me off. Malik knocks on the door as he waits for me. We are already running late, and I really need to get going if I want to get home before dark.
“How about I take him with me?” I suggest, and Sage shakes her head.
“No, what if he runs off again?” Sage says worriedly, chewing her lip as she anxiously looks up the stairs. I know she is also worried that if he runs off from her, she is hardly in the right state to chase after him. All week, she has complained about not being able to see her own feet.
“I’m taking him. We will be back before dark,” I tell her, refusing to let her argue the matter further, pecking her lips quickly. I jog up the steps, my boots making the sound so much louder as I make my way to Jonah’s bedroom. I knock on the door, then twist the handle and walk in.
Jonah is lying on his bed with his face jammed into his pillow.
“Come on, buddy, let’s go, you are coming with me.” Walking into his room, I stop next to his bed.
Jonah doesn’t move or acknowledge my presence, and I sigh before grabbing his ankle and ripping him off the bed. He squeals as he flails about, dangling upside down. My hand is wrapped securely around his ankle.
I start walking out of the room. He squeals and laughs, clawing at my jeans like he believes I will drop him. Sage gasps, her hands clutch her mouth as I stomp down the steps.
“Careful,” she shrieks, and I raise an eyebrow at her.
I will not drop him. Well, not on purpose anyway. Jonah’s hands clutch Sage’s maxi dress as he tries to pull himself upright.
“Kiss your mother. We are leaving,” I tell him, grabbing his arm, turning him the right way up, and setting him on his feet. His face is red from being upside down.
Sage clutches his little face in her hands and then kisses his nose. “You be good for your father.”
Jonah nods, turning to the now open door where Malik is waiting out the front in my car. Jonah sulks, walking off toward the car. I spot Malik trying to talk to him, but Jonah pays him no attention and climbs in the back silently. I sigh, turning to look at Sage, who is also watching him.
“I will find out what is wrong with him,” I assure her, quickly pressing my lips to hers and turning on my heel, and walking toward the car.
I glance over my shoulder as I get into the car and notice Jonah has his seatbelt on. Exhaling, I start the car.
“Is he alright?” Malik asks through the mind-link.
“No idea,” I reply while driving out of the pack grounds.
Zane, Casen, and Nora are already there preparing things, and they left earlier in the day to help back up while I attended Sage’s appointment with her.
“Pack is excited. A lot of them wanted to come,” Malik tells me.
Glancing in the rear-view mirror, I catch Jonah staring off out the window with his chin propped on his arm on the window ledge. Turning my attention back to the road, we continue to drive before pulling up in the parking lot. I stop the car and put it in the park, and Malik hops straight out, and I turn to Jonah, who has remained in the same position the entire drive, not saying a single word.
“Come on,” I tell him, and he looks over at me with a bored look on his face. I grip his chin when he goes to turn away and force him to look at me. “What’s wrong? You have been in a weird mood for two weeks now.”
“Nothing,” he says, pushing my hand away, and opening his door, he climbs out. A growl escapes me, and Donnie comes forward at his attitude, but he isn’t angry. Donnie is just as concerned about his odd behavior.
“Find out. Something is definitely wrong with him,” Donnie tells me.
“Thanks for stating the obvious.” I retort, climbing out of the car.
“You go ahead, Malik,” I tell him, and he nods, sending a glance to Jonah, who is kicking loose rocks across the gravel.
“Jonah, now,” I tell him, waving him over to me.